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Art Shows

Art Shows, BRC Activities

The Sky Prince

June 15, 2024

The summer show at the community art league is an unjuried exhibit open to members. The BRC craftsman submitted the “Sky Prince” banjo to the gallery. The peghead features the fierce countenance of an eagle surmounting the silhouette of a raptor in flight. The princely crown of this breed of avian is displayed on the truss rod cover. The Cooper`s Hawk and red-tail hawk are no strangers to the BRC lakeside premises, and a bald eagle not infrequently glides overhead en route to the Eagle’s Bluff Preserve down by the Missouri River.

The fretboard displays a cavalcade of eagles and hawks on-the-wing, and the regal face of a raptor repeatedly appears. Known for their hooked beaks and sharp talons, raptors include eagles, hawks, kites, falcons, owls, and the diminutive but swift kestrel- a BRC favorite

On the heel of the neck, a bird of prey is reiterated in flight, and nearby is the rim inscription indicating that the Sky Prince is the 104th banjo crafted in the BRC workshop.

At the gala art exhibit opening reception, gallery visitors study the Sky Prince.

From the BRC: Enjoy your summertime.

Art Shows

A Piecemeal Pax Perch

March 16, 2024

In between art show exhibits, the BRC craftsman often fashions cell phone perches ornamented with inlays leftover from previous banjo projects. These desktop implements are gifted to musicians, kinfolk, and special friends. Click-on Cell Perches in the BRC homepage menu for a chronicle of these items and recipients.

Designed to be decorated with unused inlays from the Heron, Humming Bird, Concordia, and Amity banjos, the frontispiece of the “Pax Perch” was prepared as seen below. These mirror-image inlay patterns were etched into the unfinished face of the perch with a Dremel tool.

After a mahogany stain was applied, the selected laser cut wooden inlays were inset and cemented into the face of the smartphone holder. The central thematic image seen below is the dove bearing an olive branch symbol of peace.

The back of the cell perch (below) reiterates the peace dove theme.

Like all BRC 5-stringers that have an inlay on the heel of the banjo neck for the eyes only of the musician, the Pax Perch bears a familiar and symbolic image of a hand hidden on its undersurface seen below. This smartphone holder was gifted by the BRC craftsman to a boyhood chum who was neighbor years ago and has been an email pen pal for decades. It replaced a previous ill-fated cell perch gifted to this life-long friend, and that tale can be accessed by entering the word Viking in the homepage search engine.

Although not many people have much use for a banjo, nearly everyone could use a desktop smartphone holder.

From the BRC: Have grand and peaceful St. Patrick`s Day.

Art Shows, BRC Activities

Sweet Sustenance

January 20, 2024

At the beginning of each new calendar year, the inaugural exhibit at the community art league gallery is themed on the subject of food. This January, the so-called food show is entitled “Devour” and focuses on artists` perceptions of appetites and favorite culinary delights. In February, this exhibit will host a yearly fund raising event called “Let Them Eat Art” which is catered by local restauranteurs in a competition to produce the most flavorful finger food and beverage as determined by the voting of gallery visitors. The BRC craftsman constructed the “Honey Bee” banjo for the juried art show.

The peghead and fretboard display the busy honey bee, its hive, the queen`s crown, a honey jar, and nectar-filled flowers. In scientific nomenclature, the honey bee belongs to the genus Apis of the bee clade. These industrious winged creatures came from Afro-Eurasia to North America in the early 17th century, and they are commercially valued producers of honey and wax. Honey bees sting usually in defense of themselves or their colony, and they are fated to succumb shortly after inflicting a sting.

At the gala food show opening reception on a wintry night, visitors closely study the Honey Bee which garnered  a ribbon in the adjudicated competition. During his initial decade of banjo building, the BRC craftsman installed only mother of pearl inlays; but in recent years, he has converted to laser-cut wood inlays made mostly of  birch.

Like all BRC 5-stringers, the heel of the neck on the Honey Bee bears special inlays for the eyes only of the musician. On the rim nearby is an inscription (inverted) indicating that this instrument is the 102nd banjo built in our shop. Since 2016, over forty BRC banjos have appeared in local art shows.

From the BRC: Enjoy the best of food and health in 2024.

Art Shows

Heron

November 18, 2023

The Great Blue Heron is no stranger to the BRC lake. During the warm summer months, these solitary birds can be found keeping lonely vigils overlooking our shorelines, and they sometimes stealthily tip-toe up behind the banjo workshop and prowl our grassy back lawn. We never see them in pairs or in a flock. The scientific name for this specie is Ardea herodis, and lawn ornaments of this winged creature dot our neighborhood.

A nervous and wary avian, the heron will quickly take flight if you happen to come within about 100 feet of it. This escapist behavior is demonstrated (above) in a quick snapshot taken from our dock. A lonesome traveler, a startled heron is chased across the BRC lake by its shadow (below) as captured in a photograph taken from our upper back deck.

Years ago, a friend had a rookery of herons in the wooded area behind her rural home. It was impressive to see the community of large nests in the lofty treetops and baby birds craning their necks to visualize the world below. We counted an astonishing sum of almost 70 nests. A few weeks later, the broken-hearted land owner sadly reported that a menacing hawk had begun preying upon the nest eggs, and the entire flock departed one night to safer environs.

For the winter Holiday art show at the community gallery, the BRC craftsman constructed a Heron banjo. As these magnificent birds grows a feathery (occipital) plume at the back of the head during the breeding season, this feature is depicted on the peg head and fretboard inlays.

Males and females are difficult to distinguish as both grow wispy (pectoral) plumage on the breast and soft (scapular) plumes on their wings. With mild autumn weather this year, the herons that visited our scenic BRC backyard lake (seen below) during the warm months were observed to slowly disappear. They had all fled south when the thermometer dropped to freezing temperatures.

At the gala evening reception for the Winter exhibit, gallery visitors study the Heron-themed banjo with its portrayal of this familiar summertime visitor to our Heartland waterways. The 5-stringer found a buyer on opening night.

From the BRC: Have a restful Thanksgiving holiday.

 

 

Art Shows, BRC Activities

#100: The Humming Bird

November 4, 2023

The hummingbird is a familiar visitor to the BRC domicile, as red sweet water feeders are stationed on our upper deck every summer to attract these flighty avians. The below photo was taken with a cellphone by speedily photographing multiple images to capture a freeze-frame of the hyperkinetic fluttering of the bird`s wings.This autumn, a Humming Bird banjo was crafted in the BRC workshop for the 64th Annual Central Bank of Boone County Art Show. The peghead head featured feathery birds airily fluttering to and fro. In the scientific nomenclature, this specie is categorized as belonging to the Order of Apodiformes, the Suborder of Trochili, and the Family of Trochilidae.

Flowers appear on the truss rod cover and fretboard representing the vital food source of nectar that fuels the birds` high-powered energy requirements during flight. For the winter months, hummingbirds migrate south via a long airborne journey to Mexico or Central America.

BRC banjos feature an inlay on the heel of the neck for the eyes only of the musician. Adjacent to the below (inverted) flowery image appears an inscription indicating that the Humming Bird is the 100th banjo produced by the BRC workshop. Since the inception of the Banjo Rehabilitation Center in 2011, thirty-nine of its banjos have appeared in art shows.

On display below in the mirrored lobby, the Humming Bird banjo won a ribbon and was sold during the yearly weekend autumnal Boone County Bank Art Show. The BRC couple missed the awards ceremony, as they were away visiting grandkids in Texas.

When the grandparents returned from the Lone Star State, they were welcomed home with a spectacular rainbow that arched over their mid Missouri neighborhood. In a photograph from the upper deck above the BRC workshop, the colorful atmospheric phenomenon is admired by the banjo craftsman seen standing in the nearby shadows.

From the BRC:  Best Wishes to all for a lovely autumn season.